Madera County hearing on SEIU grievance focuses on standby pay, timeliness and practice of vehicles-in-lieu

The Madera County Civil Service Commission on April 24 heard testimony in a grievance filed by SEIU Local 521 alleging that three county employees were owed standby pay and that a long-standing department practice of providing take-home county vehicles had effectively substituted for that pay.

The dispute centers on whether the group grievance was filed in the proper place and within the contract's 10-working-day deadline. The union said its first internal contact about the issue was recorded in its UnionWare database on or about May 17, 2023, and that a written grievance was filed June 1, 2023. County human resources responded that the written grievance was improperly submitted to human resources rather than the employees' immediate supervisor and that pay stubs showed the grievants should have known about any unpaid standby earlier, making the complaint untimely under the parties' memorandum of understanding (MOU).

Why it matters: The hearing will determine whether county employees are entitled to standby pay under their MOU and whether procedural defects or statute-of-limitations issues bar the claim. The case raises practical questions about when workers are "on standby," who may authorize standby, and whether an informal long-standing practice in a department can substitute for bargained pay.

Courtney Hawkins, senior contract enforcement specialist for SEIU Local 521, told the commission the union's case file in UnionWare shows initial contact on or about May 17, 2023, and that a formal grievance form was submitted June 1, 2023. "The earliest note that's in there was made... on or about May 17," Hawkins said. She also described how the union's Member Resource Center and field representatives intake and vet…